25
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 50Boston GlobeBoston GlobeNot terrible, not terrible at all. Yes, the plot is terrible, some of the jokes are terrible, and Rob Schneider's bizarre from-the-neck-up oxblood tan is terrible, but the movie as a whole is a more-than-acceptable addition to the genre of shameless and hastily made American comedy.
- 40VarietyJoe LeydonVarietyJoe LeydonUnder Dennis Dugan's rote direction, Schneider winds up playing straight man to Spade, who once again relies on his snarky coward shtick, and Heder, who comes across like someone doing a bad imitation of ... well, Heder himself in "Napoleon Dynamite."
- 40Los Angeles TimesGene SeymourLos Angeles TimesGene SeymourFrom the beginning to its very end, The Benchwarmers seems to be struggling to justify its own existence.
- 38TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghThis formulaic mess of sports-movie cliches and self-esteem claptrap contains a couple of funny bits, but you have to slog through a lot of done-to-death bodily function jokes to get to them.
- 30The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckYou have to credit the filmmakers for at least acknowledging their level of dreck during the final credits, when Lovitz rhetorically asks, "This was a complete waste of time, wasn't it?"
- 30The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisThe Benchwarmers is the sort of trash that Hollywood does really well. It is also, to quote Mr. Schneider, "a master's thesis on the form of a quintessential Adam Sandler comedy."
- 25San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubSan Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubIt's a movie packed with so many idiot characters that Rob Schneider is cast as the cool guy -- and sort of pulls it off.
- 12New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanThe humor is infantile at best (projectile vomiting and bathroom jokes) and meanspirited at worst (midgets and gays, look out).
- 12New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickSandler's latest ode to projectile vomiting, passing gas, gay jokes and physical insults to the groin is basically a feeble cross between "The Revenge of the Nerds" and "The Bad News Bears."
- 10Film ThreatFilm ThreatAnother disastrous comedy aimed at second-graders and anyone else who thinks farts are still funny.